Industry News

From the National Association of Realtors

HUD Announces Changes to FHA Condo Policies

On November 12, 2015, Federal Housing Administration Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Ed Golding joined NAR President Chris Polychron at the 2015 REALTORS® Conference & Expo and announced before a packed ballroom of Realtors® and industry experts changes to FHA condominium policies. NAR has long advocated for broad improvements to FHA’s condo rules, arguing that existing policy is overly restrictive and keeps many consumers from buying and selling a home. To address these concerns, Golding announced at the conference’s kick-off event that FHA will make changes to its condo policies in line with those requested by NAR. Those include changes to the lengthy and complex recertification process in place today, burdensome owner-occupancy requirements, and limits on the types of property insurance that are considered acceptable coverage under FHA’s rules. Golding told Realtors® at the event that changes related to insurance and recertification would take place immediately as part of a Mortgagee Letter to be released on Friday, Nov. 13. He added that policy changes related to owner occupancy, commercial space percentage, FHA concentration and spot approvals would be addressed in a formal rulemaking in the near future.